World-rated junior bantamweight contender Sikho Nqothole has expressed surprise at being listed as an underdog in his ordered IBF title eliminator against Ricardo Malajika, despite having beaten him in their previous bout.
Mthatha’s Nqothole, who is based in Johannesburg, was ordered by the IBF to contest the top spot against Malajika, triggering a rematch of their April 2022 clash.
Though he would later win the IBO title, Malajika convincingly lost in a unanimous decision to Nqothole, whose lack of a dedicated management team at the time — until he joined Colin Nathan’s No Doubt Management — saw his career lagging.
Malajika, who enjoys the backing of a powerful promoter, Golden Gloves Promotions, has recovered from the loss to become one of the best boxers in the world and scaled the world sanctioning bodies’ ratings.
Commanding lofty spots in the WBC, WBA and IBF, which mandated him to contest its mandatory spot, Malajika has been tipped as a favourite to continue his good run by beating Nqothole.
The sentiment is amusing to Nqothole, who, despite being aware of his former victim’s good run, feels Malajika is still the same boxer he beat four years ago.
“To me, Malajika has not changed a bit from the boxer I beat, and I am surprised by people dismissing me,” he said. “I was watching him [yesterday] and I realised his style was still the same. He throws the same punches, ducks the same and literally fights the same style.”
However, he conceded that Malajika was enjoying a good run, which has seen him retain his IBO title five times since winning it with a points decision over Argentinian Kevin Luis Munoz, 17 months after losing to him.
“I think his good run has boosted his confidence, and he believes he can beat anyone, and unfortunately people are also swayed by it. I even watched him when he beat Yanga (Sigqibo), and I believe Yanga lost the fight because he fought differently and did not use the lateral movement he often used in his bouts,” Nqothole.
“This could have been due to him not feeling Malajika’s power.”
Duncan Village’s Sigqibo was knocked out in 11 rounds in a near-tragic bout that forced him to spend several days in hospital.
Nqothole, who often dissects the style of his opponents during his bouts, making the job of his cornermen easy, has no doubt that his hand will be raised again.
With both camps yet to reach an agreement about the date of the fight, Nqothole wants to start preparations as early as next week. He anticipates that the fight could be scheduled in about May, as GGP has a date in the month.
“Then I will be happy to shut up all the doubting Thomases.”
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